Feb 25, 2016

Cindua Mato the Musical

I was at the Istana Budaya recently, a couple of days ago to check out the new Musical 'Randai' play they had scheduled for 25-27 of March at the Panggung Sari theatre there . I am pretty sure it is going to be a very interesting play as the line up of actors and actresses are pretty star studded such as Remy Ishak, Azhan Rani, Ashraf Muslim as well as the lovely Puteri Aishah Sulaiman.

Randai is a traditional folk theater musical that incorporates music,
singing, dance, drama as well as local silat martial art. Randai is normally performed
for traditional ceremonies and festivals, and some of the complex stories could even span a few of evenings.

. Stories
are told by acting and singing and are mostly based on
Minangkabau legends and folktales. Randai originated early in the 20th century
out of fusion of local martial arts, story-telling and other performance
traditions.

Since I was there early, I got to meet some of the main characters for the Randai Musical such as Azhan Rani here who plays the character Dang Tuanku, who may or may not be Cindua Mato's half brother. He was engaged to the Puti Bongsu but then lost her to Cindua Mato...

The love birds in the story... the title character Cindua Mato , played by Remy Ishak and Puti Bongsu, played by the lovely newcomer Puteri Aishah Sulaiman. Puteri Aishah happened to be my step daughter, Alyssa's college mate and close friend back then...

And I finally get to meet one of the veteran actors I admire most... Dato’ Jalaluddin Hassanwho plays the character Rajo Tiang Bungkuk, Cindua Mato's enemy.

According to Datuk Norliza Rofli, the Director of Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara (JKKN) at the press conference today, the show is a part of the effort to make sure that the art of Randai continues in today's modern society so that our country's heritage will be protected for future generations to come...

This is also to raise awareness, understanding, and public appreciation for a classical art which is authentic and rich with culture and good moral values. Randai is a traditional art well known among the Minangkabau society who originate from West Sumatera and who has expanded to all over the Malay archipelago.

The sneak preview I got to watch was really moving, powerful and colourful...as to be expected by the star studded cast line up...

The Randai musical using the simple language and daily dialect of the Minang society will be directed by Istana Budaya's Lokman Ghani. Dr Indra Utama will act as the choreographer, assisted by four other choreograhers from JKKN who will be Siti Suhailah Taman, Amran Nunet, Zaidi Karim and Nik Azwadi.

Puteri Aishah Sulaiman as Puti Bongsu bemoaning the fact she is being married of to someone she does not know or want to be with....

Cindua Mato is a story about the origins of Minangkabau royalty.
The story which might or might not be the one that will be staged (since I googled this up and translate it a bit to my understanding...) involves a mythical Minangkabau queen, Bundo Kanduang who lives in
Paga Ruyuang.

She embodies the behaviors prescribed by adat. Bundo Kanduang had
one child called Dang Tuanku as well as a step-child who was Cindua Mato. Dang
Tuanku and Cindua Mato were brothers that had same father but different mothers.

This musical is about him, and how he stole his half brother’s fiancée as well
as used magic to defeat hostile outside forces, saved the kingdom to be crowned
King of the Minangkabau…

This musical gets its artistic touch from Hazize San, from Istana Budaya. And at least 40 cultural artists and musicians will be involved in the staging which also has the Negeri Sembilan cultural team and local teams teaming up and musicians from both the JKKN cultural group and Istana Budaya's musicians working together

There will also be 15 silat practitioners from the Persekutuan Seni Silat Cekak Pusaka Ustaz Hanafi, Malaysia as well as the Kumpulan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Kampung Gagu, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan making this musical a success

The tickets to watch this musical play will be priced at RM25, RM55 dan RM 85 and available via www.airasiaredtix.com or directly purchased from the box-office counter at the Istana Budaya or certain Rock Corner or Victoria Music outlets

Although I don't have time to watch shows like these, time and even, when I do have the opportunity, I am blown away by the talent of local artistes. From your description, this looks like a musical that I must catch!

Our local productions are really good. It is something that many assume are not up to par...but until they take the first step to check it out, they really wouldn't know. Yes, this is one that I am going to include in my must watch this year.